AFTER 50 years of wedded bliss, the couple Oscar Hilado and the former Marylou Corominas thought of celebrating their togetherness. A grand party was planned but, after deep thought, the Manila-based couple decided to scrap it and instead donate the money (P2.5 million) they would have spent, to Marylou’s parish, the San Nicolas church, for a retablo. The church is the Archdiocesan Shrine of San Nicolas de Tolentino and it used to have a retablo but this was destroyed during World War II and never restored until this year.
In his article, The Restored Beauty, Rev. Fr. Brian Brigoli defines the retablo as “a large frontal structure usually made of wood decorated with carvings and niches with saints’ images or statues and even with religious symbols.”
“The retablo is the most prominent fixture of the church interior. It draws the attention almost immediately upon entering the inside of the church. It even sets the mode to prayer for in it is enshrined… saints’ statues.
It is deemed necessary in every church structure for it is the altarpiece of every place of worship, the centerpiece of all the churches’ fixtures where the statues of our Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary are all enshrined.
Before the aggiornamento, the altar was attached to it, the mesa or the long table where the blessed altar stone, the piedra de ara, is placed for the priest to preside over the Eucharistic celebration.”
At the topmost center part of the San Nicolas retablo is the representation of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Below this is the statue of Christ crucified and flanking it are the statues of Our Lady of Consolation and the church’s patron saint, San Nicolas de Tolentino. On each side are the statues of St. Joseph the Worker and San Pedro Calungsod.
The whole retablo restoration project was coordinated by the leadership of the Parish Pastoral Council; the reredos (side altar pieces) were funded by the YLAC Foundation, San Nicolas unit. Everything was done with the guidance of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, chaired by Fr. Brigoli.
The retablo, a meaningful golden wedding celebration for the Hilados, was blessed by Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma, D.D. on the occasion of the San Nicolas 432nd annual fiesta celebration on Sept. 10, 2016.